Apple, Samsung Drive Up Premium Segment Even As India Sees Overall Decline In Smartphone Shipments

Smartphone shipments in India declined by 9% year-over-year to 152 million units in 2022, a period during which the premium segment managed to register a double-digit market share, according to a fresh report by Counterpoint Research.

What Happened? Global research firm Counterpoint Research in a study reveals that India’s smartphone market has registered a year-on-year decline for the second time in its history. The firm attributes the decline to a combination of supply-chain constraints that impacted budget smartphone sales towards the beginning of the year and lesser overall demand throughout the year.

Counterpoint’s Senior Research Analyst Prachir Singh in a statement goes on to state that the lower demand for smartphones within the first two quarters of 2022 led to “inventory build-up across channels” that led to reduced shipments in the second half of the year.

“We believe that the inventory and demand situation will continue to affect the market in the first half of 2023 before improving in the latter half driven by the festive season and upgrades to 5G devices,” argues Singh.

Not all gloomy: Despite the YoY decline in shipments, market revenue generated by the smartphone market remained steady with the likes of Samsung, Apple, Vivo, Xiaomi, and OPPO forming the list of top-five brands in terms of revenue share.

While budget smartphones didn’t create much of a stir throughout the year, the premium smartphone market such as the iPhone did steadily rise in 2022, achieving double-digit figures of 11%.

"This paradoxical trend implies that India's smartphone market is moving from being volume-driven to value-driven. While entry-tier and budget segments were most affected, the premium segment remained immune and showed double-digit growth,” states Counterpoint Analyst Shilpi Jain.

Jain believes that premium smartphone makers ramped up efforts to enable numerous financing schemes over the course of the year – a move that has helped drive a trend pushing consumers to opt for more premium smartphones.